Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • July 18, 2012 Wyckoff Board to resume Vista project hearings July 23 by John Koster The Wyckoff Zoning Board of Adjustment will hold its next hearing on the proposed assisted-care community at the Christian Health Care Center property on July 23 The new hearing will follow a June vote in which the board voted 6-1 that the 258-unit expansion was “inherently beneficial.” The board’s determination means that the opposition -- which is considerable -- must prove that negative aspects of the plan outweigh any benefits. Wyckoff Board of Adjustment Chairman Jerry Lombardo pointed out at the June meeting that voting to approve the project’s inherently beneficial status did not preclude those who voted in favor from rejecting the project if negative testimony emerges. Board Member Erik Rubenaker cast the lone dissenting vote. Many residents in the audience who were opposed to the Vista project expressed verbal dissent at the vote. Ira Weiner, the attorney for the objectors, said that Vista as portrayed was not the sort of assisted living project which he felt qualified as inherently beneficial, and he argued against the vote. “This is something for independent living that does have support services, which is a good thing, but I don’t believe that rises to an inherently beneficial level,” he said. He added that people who chose to live at Vista would not be forced there by necessity because they would theoretically be somewhat independent and did not yet need assisted care. Jerome Vogel, the attorney for the Vista project, said that by the same train of logic, a school, a child care center, a group home, or a wind or solar power site could also be rejected as an inherently beneficial use. The board also heard from Gary Dean, a traffic expert retained by Wyckoff, who praised the road design that would accommodate extra traffic from people using the Vista development, should the board approve the project. “I think it’s an exceptional design that provides this community with a lot of capacity to accommodate any future changes in overall traffic activity,” Dean said. At the next meeting, Lombardo noted, traffic experts retained by the opponents would have a chance to discuss their views about the proposed traffic plan. Board members expected no meeting in August and have already scheduled a meeting in September to continue the extended hearing.